Once again, we’re spending Fridays this summer revisiting season three of “The Wire.” (You can find my reviews of all the other seasons at my old blog.) Two versions each week: one for people who have seen the whole series and want to feel free to discuss things from first episode to last, and one for relative newcomers who haven’t seen all the way to the end yet and don’t want to be spoiled past the episodes we’re discussing. This is the veteran version; click here to read the newbie-friendly one.

A review of episode five, “Straight and True,” coming up just as soon as I take notes on a criminal conspiracy…

“I swear to God, come Monday, your world and mine ain’t gonna be the same.” -Bunny

“The Wire” season three is about the challenge of trying to bring reform to something as futile and destructive as the drug war, and in “Straight and True” we see two huge leaps forward in reform campaigns being attempted on both sides of the law. Bunny finally manages to get Hamsterdam up and running by targeting the middle managers and not the grunts, while Stringer and Prop Joe unite most of Baltimore’s major drug kingpins in their New Day Co-Op, which aims to share the wealth that comes with The Greek’s tremendous product, while avoiding the kind of violence that attracts the attention of cops like Jimmy McNulty.

Two different men, two different approaches, but the same basic philosophy: people are going to sell and buy drugs, so why not try to keep the violence and other collateral damage from that business to a minimum?

But while both Stringer and Bunny make big inroads in their respective reform campaigns, they still live in a world where too many other people don’t want, don’t understand and will try to fight that reform.

We get a sense of this from the opening scene, where Bubbs is explaining his new snitching business model to Johnny, and Johnny simply doesn’t want to hear about it. Johnny has been taught (ironically, by Bubbs) to believe in the same stupid, backwards code of the street that the cops, the dealers and the fiends all have come to accept as a way of life, and any suggestion that there’s another way to do things is met with some combination of confusion, fear and outright hostility. Bubbs has finally figured out how to make money in The Game, by snitching and selling t-shirts, but all Johnny wants to do is keep running capers and risking beatings or worse.

Early in the episode, Bunny’s people all try to act sympathetic about the apparent failure of Hamsterdam, but he can tell they’re all relieved his insane plan didn’t work so they can go back to business as usual. Comstat gives him the brainstorm to make it work, and that in turn leads to one of the most surreal, hilarious scenes of the series, as Santangelo ferries the junkies to Hamsterdam, where they emerge from the dark jail wagon looking like they’ve just fallen down the rabbit hole into Wonderland(*). But while Carver starts to play along, it’s clear that Herc is steaming over being deprived of the ability to pointlessly kick in doors and knock heads.

(*) That scene features one of this episode’s two contenders for Funniest “Wire” Line Ever, when Santangelo helpfully tells Johnny, “I hear the WMD is the bomb.” Like the episode’s other contender – Stringer berating Shamrock for taking notes at the New Day Co-Op – it comes from the endless stream of comic riches that comes from adapting high-class behavior (a wine steward’s recommendation, Robert’s Rules of Order) to the drug world.

And while Stringer and Joe get most of the city’s dealers to join the co-op, they don’t get all of them. Marlo – who has already declined to attend Bunny’s Intro to Hamsterdam 101 – listens patiently and quietly to Stringer’s sales pitch about money and cars and peaceful co-existence, but as soon as Stringer’s gone, he tells right-hand man Chris Partlow to get his people ready for war. Stringer wants to be a businessman in a business where nearly everyone else – even the lowly fiends like Johnny – think of themselves as soldiers. Where Stringer thinks he’s impressing Marlo with talk of easy financial success, Marlo (who holds the meeting in a rathole that’s the exact opposite of the condos Stringer is developing downtown) sees a weak man who doesn’t want to fight him, and who therefore might be easy to take out.

And then there’s the wild card that is the newly-paroled Avon Barksdale. After his homecoming party, he and Stringer talk about their childhood dreams: Stringer wanted to own a few grocery stores, while Avon wanted to get an AK-47 and become a master criminal. Stringer has found a way to achieve his dream on a much grander scale by working it into Avon’s, but these two partners and old friends still want different things after all these years. Avon is bored to tears talking real estate with Clay Davis and Maury Levy (though, in fairness, he’s also desperate for some female companionship after a few years inside), while Stringer took advantage of Avon’s time in prison to reorient their business without Avon’s knowledge or permission. With Marlo coming, is Avon going to easily go along with Stringer’s reform plan? Or will he try to drag the Barksdale organization back to their old, bloody ways?

Some other thoughts on “Straight and True”:

Most of the episode’s smaller stories also deal with characters butting up against calcified, backwards thinking. Cutty is saddled with two idiotic, dope-sniffing soldiers who don’t heed his warning about beating too badly on their target, because, quote, “Bitch got to pay.” Carcetti tries to be noble and work with Royce on the murdered witness issue without trying to score political points, but it’s clear Royce doesn’t care and is just humoring him. When Bunny goes looking for anyone, anywhere in the Baltimore PD with a list of high-end dealers in his district, he strikes out everywhere except the MCU, and Carver seems baffled that anyone would even expect such a thing of him.

Though McNulty spent all of the first season chasing after Stringer, the two characters spent precious little time together. McNulty’s frustrated visit to the copy store, with a justifiably smug Stringer offering to sell him a condo, is more screen time than the characters have shared previously combined. It’s funny to think back to the moment in season one’s “Game Day” where Jimmy tells the other members of the detail that he doesn’t care if he ever gets a good look at Avon, because he doesn’t need to to close the case. By now, though, it feels personal, and Stringer only makes the wound deeper by coming across as so confident and invulnerable.

Poor Bunk. Just as he’s making progress in the Omar shootout case – and learning that Tosha isn’t the innocent civilian he first believed – Landsman has to roll up at his most obnoxious and force him to return to the completely meaningless search for Dozerman’s gun. And that in turn leads to another montage like the one with Bunk and Lester and Beadie on the cargo ship in season two, as he listens to one lying prisoner after another, including the one rattling off all the Dinks he knows (Inky-Dink, Flat-Dink, Dink-Dink, etc.). It’s a really funny episode all around, isn’t it?

And speaking of Omar, we see that things are not all peachy-keen in his group, with Kimmy still understandably angry with Dante for shooting Tosha in the head.

Carcetti’s world gets a bit deeper, as his buddy Tony Grey is inspired by him to tear into Rawls and Burrell at a subcommittee meeting, while ex-girlfriend and potential campaign manager Theresa D’Agostino takes McNulty into her bed – and then kicks him out as soon as they’re done. Funny to see McNulty’s confusion at being with a woman who’s only using him for cheap sex.

Though Cutty is the voice of wisdom among the soldiers in many ways, we see in his meeting with Deacon Melvin – in which he loses interest once he realizes that Grace isn’t involved and he’d have to spend time getting a GED – that it’s not that he’s used to thinking outside the box, but to making sure his box is more solidly-constructed.

On the other hand, the one soldier who does seem at least somewhat amenable to new thinking is Bodie, who’s taken aback by both the Hamsterdam proposal and the decent way the cops treated him on the way there, but who also is wise enough to take it to Stringer. (Yet another funny moment in an episode full of them: Stringer assumes that Bodie’s wearing a wire and tells him he shouldn’t sell drugs.)

And now we come to the veterans-only section, where we can talk about how the events of this episode will be reflected down the line:

Avon and Stringer’s conversation in the condo is more foreshadowing of the divergent paths those two are on, and of how badly things will end between them.

Also on diverging paths? Herc and Carver. Carver makes an effort to make Hamsterdam work, and in the process will finally become the good cop we see in seasons four and five, while Herc will dig in and complain and eventually drop the dime on Bunny. The difference is most clear in the scene where they go to bring Marlo to the Hamsterdam meeting, where Carver is wise enough to recognize just how much danger they’re in from a crew who doesn’t seem afraid to attack cops, while Herc is too arrogant and tunnel-visioned to see anything but the chance to beat up Marlo. This will not, of course, be the last time that Marlo Stanfield gets the better of Thomas Hauk.

I’m going through this season one episode at a time as I write these reviews, so I may be wrong, but isn’t the copy shop scene the last personal interaction Jimmy has with Stringer?

Though Cutty declines Deacon Melvin’s offer here, the Deacon will turn out to be very helpful in setting up his boxing program.

This episode not only introduces the New Day Co-Op, but Prop Joe’s eventual successor in Fat Face Rick.

And speaking of which, if only Prop Joe could have been a fly on the wall for Stringer’s meeting with Marlo, given how things went from there, he might have been smart enough to just leave town and enjoy a well-earned, lucrative retirement. Marlo does not want to be taught (though he does take advantage of Joe’s lessons); he wants to win, and kill all his enemies in the process. That is all.

Coming up next: “Homecoming,” in which Avon gets back to business, McNulty tries to redirect the MCU, and Bunk and Omar have a memorable chat.

Hi Alan, excellent recap as usual. I rewatched the episode last night and was a little surprised at the scene with Clay Davis and Maurice Levy at Orlando’s. Later on, in episode 11, Levy acts like he had no idea that Stringer was doing business with Clay Davis, but they were talking about the property developments in last night’s episode. The Wire has such a strong storyline where “all the pieces matter”, and I must say I was surprised at this error. Or am I reading too much into the scene at Orlando’s?

By: sepinwall

07.02.2010 @ 12:43 PM

Maury knows Stringer is in business with Clay. Clay was at the lunch in the previous episode.

Maury’s later surprise is about the fact that Stringer let Clay talk him into doing some more business on the side, and without Maury’s involvement. That’s where Stringer screws up.

By: Foot Locker Employee Poot

07.02.2010 @ 3:30 PM

In the series finale, Levy warns Marlo not to get stuck in a room with Andy Krawczek without Levy being there too–Levy doesn’t want other clients repeating Stringer’s mistake.

By: Bengen

07.02.2010 @ 4:05 PM

Clay spells this out quite clearly to Lester in episode 5×09 “Late Editions”.

My quick transcription
Lester: “And the lawyers take their cut?”
Clay: “On both ends, though I gotta say, he gonna let you rob one of his clients only so much. I mean, once you get a Barksdale or a Joe Stewart on the hook, you wanna go deep on their ass. Levy will let you get a taste, but he won’t let you run wild, ’cause once you get past these motherfucking lawyers you can really play the pimp. This one time, I had this fella named Bell hooked up on this Howard street condo thing. Got it so he wasn’t running his shit past the lawyer. Boy, I tell you, we *bled* that motherfucker!”
Lester “Lawyers, huh?”

By: gketch

07.02.2010 @ 5:22 PM

Looks like it’s a good thing I’m watching the entire series this summer. I watched Season Three out of order to prepare for Alan’s recaps, but my husband did not join me. We are now halfway through Season One, watching together. Looks like it’s going to be a summer tradition at our house.

It’s really very interesting to watch The Wire unfold again. Living in the Chicago area, where we have a governor on trial for corruption and an epidemic of shootings each summer weekend, it brings it all home. That’s what makes this series so great.

By: Mervis

12.31.2014 @ 12:28 AM

Orlando’s closed at the end of S1. I’m not sure of the name of this new club but it’s not Orlando’s.

By: Jjjj

07.02.2010 @ 12:47 PM

that montage I feel with bunk and the prisoners, is even funnier then montage with lester. I always burst into tears of laughter listening to it.

By: SPP

07.02.2010 @ 5:32 PM

I do love the “Get me out from under these murders!” guy.

By: lztouchthedream

07.03.2010 @ 12:19 AM

My personal favorite moment is when a prisoner asks Bunk to get him out from under some murders so he can help him find the gun, and Bunk asks him how many. The prisoner’s look and gesture to indicate it’s four are perfect.

By: Otto Man

07.02.2010 @ 1:18 PM

Great write-up of a great episode.

I’m blanking on Marlo’s later run-in with Herc though.

By: sepinwall

07.02.2010 @ 1:23 PM

The camera. Season four.

By: Bill Keith

07.02.2010 @ 1:19 PM

Write a comment…

By: BBJJK

07.02.2010 @ 1:22 PM

Sorry, first time. Loved the scene when “Bushy Top” (or “Pretty Boy”) is reunited with Bunny in
front of the MCU team. You get a sense of what a mentor he must have been to McNulty and how
he turned out to be such a great (albeit screwed up) cop.

By: Anonymous

07.02.2010 @ 1:44 PM

Definitely. loved seeing how Bunny was one of McNulty’s early mentors.

“Where you at, McNulty?” And Jimmy proceeds to rattle of a precise and specific description of exactly where he is standing. Obviously those early lessons really sunk in.

By: Anonymous

07.02.2010 @ 1:47 PM

On Herc and Carver’s almost-confrontation wit Marlo … not to defend Herc too much, but my impression of that scene was that he was wise to the danger, but willing to throw down anyway, unwilling to back down and look weak in front of a crew of ‘hoppers’. Herc isn’t the best cop, but he’d have to be deaf dumb and blind to not notice that he and Carver were totally outnumbered and outgunned.

By: sepinwall

07.02.2010 @ 1:52 PM

Herc knew he was outnumbered. He just couldn’t fathom that *all* these guys would throw down with him, because (as with all things in Herc’s brain) that simply isn’t how things are done. Marlo and his people are a whole different, more dangerous breed of bad, and I think Carver saw that and Herc didn’t.

By: stevenjo

07.02.2010 @ 1:48 PM

Great observation about how it’s the last personal interaction between McNulty and Stringer, which makes the “Who the f*** was I chasing?” scene in Episode 12 that much more poignant. The Wire’s richness stems from how the audience is allowed to know every side of these people. McNulty’s evolution in some ways begins in that sad scene in Stringer’s apartment when he’s forced to confront the limits of his own thinking (even if he’ll have forgotten the lesson by Season 5).

By: Lou

07.02.2010 @ 1:56 PM

In season one I thought Jimmy didn’t need a look at Avon not because he didn’t care about the case, but because it didn’t matter if they saw him, what mattered was getting his voice on the wire, implicating himself (as Stringer does in the penultimate episode of this season.) It could also be that Jimmy is basically a contrarian that entire season..

By: jski

05.29.2015 @ 7:36 AM

Techinically that was the reason McNulty didn’t have to actually see Stringer or Avon, but the evolution to this point where he has no other move but to walk right up to Stringer shows that his previous statements on how the case wasn’t personal have dissapated. He can’t pretend it isn’t personal

By: G

07.02.2010 @ 2:08 PM

You missed one thing re: Marlo & Stringer’s conversation. Marlo DID listen to Stringer when he told him that driving that Benz would get him caught. After that meet, you notice Marlo switched to a Nissan SUV….

By: sepinwall

07.02.2010 @ 2:53 PM

Marlo had the SUV before. He has a bunch of cars. And he doesn’t learn how to launder money – and therefore put things like cars into his own name (which is the point Stringer was trying to make) – until he hooks up with Prop Joe.

By: Andrew

07.02.2010 @ 2:19 PM

Excellent write-up of a really rich episode. I think to understand the point of the Stringer reform storyline, one has to get that Marlo is “street capitalism” personified. Avon and the other dealers like Prop Joe care about family members, women, the good life. In other words, they have goals beyond simply ruthlessly enhancing their power and reputation, unlike Marlo. So it’s possible for them to stick with the Co-Op and choose peace over power.

But in any market, you can’t trust all of the participants to do what’s best for the group rather than what’s best for them individually. If a market opportunity presents itself, someone will swoop in to fill it — if there’s a market for subprime mortgage-backed bonds, shady lenders will appear to hand out as many dubious loans as possible to create those bonds. The illegal drug market presents the opportunity for the most ruthless, murderous, and smart bastard to be number one — and if the opportunity is there, someone will take it.

Stringer, ironically given his Adam Smith reading, doesn’t understand that the fundamental assumption of economics is that people act according to their own self-interest, not the self-interest of the group. Marlo sees no value in being a cog in the cartel when he perceives an opportunity for something greater.

By: Sacks Romana

07.02.2010 @ 3:56 PM

I’ve never really liked the idea that Marlo is the embodiment of pure capitalism. The argument is valid, and it’s easy to point to examples of corporations that sacrifice human values every time for profit. But really, the Greek represents pure Capitalism in The Wire.

There’s a Chris Rock sketch where he talks about the difference between “rich” and “wealth”. Shaq is rich. The guy who writes Shaq’s checks is wealthy. Marlo is rich. The Greek is wealthy. And the Greek isn’t interested in killing people as the only means to staying on top. He’s happy if he’s selling through Prop Joe. He’s happy if he’s selling to the Co-op. He’s happy if he’s selling to Marlo. He’s so wealthy that he’s still pretty happy even if he has to pack his bags and sell his stuff somewhere other than Baltimore.

I think Marlo and his crew are a better representation of an entire generation that’s grown up knowing nothing but the devastation from drugs and the drug war. He’s a psychopath because he’s known nothing else. It’s not just about the money for him, it’s about not showing anything that could possibly be construed as weakness. Itâ€™s a pure â€œstreetâ€ mentality that was never grounded in anything remotely normal. Killing the security guard had nothing to do with capitalism. He jokes about having Chris kill the guys at the poker game if he keeps losing, and it’s not about the money, it’s about putting them in their place for beating him at a game. The guy is an emotional abyss of insecurity and hatred. It’s impossible to imagine Marlo talking about his childhood with the sweetness that Avon and Stringer do.

To me, Marlo isn’t a reminder to Stringer that reform is futile. It’s a reminder that he and Avon are responsible for this entire generation that is valueless. They helped created this world despite the macro-engine of the drug war. A lot of bad decisions were catching up to Stringer; Omar and Brother just got there first.

By: Andrew

07.02.2010 @ 7:31 PM

Some interesting points there. I know the Greek is “pure capitalism” but I said Marlo was “street capitalism.” You’re right that money matters hardly at all to Marlo, it’s certainly nice but what he really wants is power. He wants to dominate his world and he wants his authority to be unquestioned (security guard). But I think most of this comes from Seasons 4 and 5, when he was more of a character in his own right. I think his role in Season 3 is as I described — to represent the ruthless, self-interested entrepreneur that makes it impossible to “reform” the drug trade or any criminal enterprise from within. Stringer gives him a business proposition and asks him to do what’s right for the group, and Marlo says no because he can imagine a better deal for himself. (Of course there’s also the whole angle of Marlo representing Iraqi insurgents and Stringer representing the USA trying to impose rules on them.)

I will quibble with the “he [Stringer] and Avon are responsible for this entire generation” in the last paragraph, since I don’t think Simon / Burns care very much about showing that Stringer should feel guilty about anything or get punished — “deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

By: Chris Gannon

07.05.2010 @ 1:45 PM

Marlo isn’t so much a representation of capitalism so much as he is of pure power. Marlo isn’t looking to be a successful CEO, he’s looking to be a king. The Greek represents pure capitalism which is why he gives Marlo the okay to take out Joe in season 5. He understood that Marlo was going to kill Joe no matter what, even if it meant losing access to the Greek’s heroin. The most important thing to Marlo is being in power and making sure that everyone knows it which is why he drives the expensive cars and why he later has a man and his entire family killed for saying that Marlo was gay (“my name is MY NAME” and so on).

Chris

By: jski

05.29.2015 @ 7:52 AM

I have to disagree with your reasoning that Stringer “doesn’t understand that the fundamental assumption of economics is that people act according to their own self-interest, not the self-interest of the group” for a few reasons.

First, the self-interest of the group and the self-interest of the individual aren’t mutually exclusive. Literally all the members of the co-op are doing better than when they were on their own. If their self-interest is to be able to make more money, with less heat from the police, then the co-op is a no brainer. It’s a goddamn heroin oligopoly.

2. If you think about it, it’s highly irrational to go against the group as Marlow does. It attracts police, Marlow’s crew has to be out-manned compared to the combination of all the co-op’s crews, Marlow is a relatively new player on the scene, and just because this group of gangsters cooperated doesn’t make them any less gangster. Slim Charles is in there for chrissake!

3. Even though Marlow winds up on top in the end doesn’t mean it was necessarily “right” in terms of economic thinking. His take over is similar to Germany’s at the beginning of WWII – agreeing to play by the rules but then backstabbing everyone. He’s a chaotic force, working outside of the system and that’s why he succeeds.

By: ZacharyTF

07.02.2010 @ 3:18 PM

I really should start watching these episodes again instead of relying on my memory.

I liked how when the drug guys are put in the van, it’s all dark and when they get to Hamsterdam and the doors open, it’s blindingly bright outside, almost like the van was parked at an angle so that when they came outside, they stepped out in direct view of the sun.

P.S. It looks like Deadwood is coming to Blu-ray. No release date yet, but it’s up for pre-order for $146.99 at Amazon.

By: Anonymous

07.02.2010 @ 3:54 PM

Dude, I’m thoroughly impressed with your reviews… its amazing re-watching the series as you can see what these characters are doing right and wrong and how their decisions will affect them and the rest of this incredible cast of characters. Greatest drama of all time, and I HATE police dramas (CSI: Anything, Law and Order, etc) because they have never been able to pull off characters so great. I hear the SHIELD is great for Wire fans.

By: SPP

07.02.2010 @ 5:46 PM

I know a lot of people who, on their first run through S3, assume Avon is the one causing the problems for String. He is, but he’s also right about, well, practically everything. There will be the infamous botched Sunday hit, and we obviously know that Marlo will become a gigantic problem who can’t be reasoned with, but he’s right about things well beyond the Street. When String is introducing Avon to Andy Kraw, Andy mentions the steel over-run costs, but only Avon questions it, and of course we find out later that Andy and Clay were bleeding Stringer. “What I tell you about playing them away games?” You’ve mostly avoided characterizing Avon as a dumb thug, Alan, to your credit. Sadly, he’s a very, very smart thug, smart enough to realize he won’t change and shouldn’t try.

By: Andrew

07.02.2010 @ 8:16 PM

Avon is to Stringer as Burrell is to Colvin. Avon and Burrell are both very smart in how to climb to the top of their institution. Stringer and Colvin dream of creating a better world, but neither Avon nor Burrell have any interest in doing anything other than staying on top of the world they know.

Interestingly, the reformer and the non-reformer are split into separate characters in the worlds of the police and the dealers. But for politics, Carcetti has the reformer and the hack both inside him, and the hack eventually wins.

By: HTea

07.02.2010 @ 6:22 PM

Man, I always forget how much I miss Bodie. He was a character who often got forgotten to the side, but was such an important element to the entire ensemble. I think of him and Carver as two sides of the same coin.

By: carpediva

07.02.2010 @ 10:44 PM

very nice comparison of Carver & Bodie. i hadn’t thought of that before but think you’re absolutely right:

both are dumb, but not stupid. that is, they may not automatically know what the smart play is, but they’re willing to be taught, and in time, can and do learn and then grow from that knowledge.

By: Omar

07.02.2010 @ 10:41 PM

Great recap a couple of things:

Correct me if I am wrong but is this the first time we see Chris?

Marlo at least takes some of Stringer’s advice as I dont think we see him driving the Mercedes in later years.

Marlo refused to go along with Carver and Herc sets up his ascention as he still has his corners and a package when Hamsterdam falls

Yes, I think it is the first time we see Chris. Also, I believe we get a brief glimpse at Snoop at the place where Marlo parks his Mercedes.

By: Rha

08.09.2010 @ 8:22 AM

Yep after the meet with Stringer Marlo tells Chris to “tool up”

By: Alex

07.02.2010 @ 11:38 PM

Interesting that the police tried to scoop up Marlo as a “middle manager,” as if he were more or less on the same level as Bodie. Shows how little they knew about Marlo early on.

I wonder if anybody can help me understand some of the police jargon in the episode more clearly. First, why do the police call certain corners “indicted”? I see what they mean — the point is that no trafficking (or even loitering) will be tolerated there. But why “indicted”? It’s the job of prosecutors to get indictments, not cops . . .

And why does Bunk say he wants to “grand jury” Bruiser? I don’t think he really wants to have Bruiser testify before a grand jury. It sounds like he just wants to take him back to Homicide so Bunk can record his formal, signed statement about what he saw of the shoot-out. Any idea why the characters call that “grand jurying” a witness?

By: Pamoya

03.19.2011 @ 2:32 AM

Grand jurying a witness is a step up from having them sign a statement. Statements before a grand jury are sworn testimony which can be more useful in an eventual criminal trial. Some jurisdictions keep a grand jury running all the time with a broad mandate to look into things like corruption, homicides, etc. In this way, a prosecutor can question someone and “lock in their testimony,” like Bunk says, without having to start a new grand jury for a particular case. This also happened in Season 2, when the union members were given grand jury subpoenas.

By: jski

05.29.2015 @ 7:59 AM

“This corner’s indicted” insinuates anyone on it will be getting charged. Just snappy dialogue for a cop procedural show

By: Paul B.

07.03.2010 @ 1:08 AM

At the Co-op meeting, they make a reference to their New York package…I always assumed the Greek’s heroin was coming from overseas, as it was passing through the port.

By: dickey simpkins

07.03.2010 @ 8:38 AM

That was confusing for me as well. I always thought it was a lie Prop Joe used because he didn’t want the other dealers to find out the special connect, and the Co-op didn’t care because it was high quality dope. In fact, when Joe does let Marlo in on the Greeks it inevitability leads to his demise.

By: Mike C

07.03.2010 @ 3:28 PM

I assumed that the New York package is cocaine because Stringer mentions cocaine and heroin to Marlo at their meeting.

By: lztouchthedream

07.06.2010 @ 3:22 AM

Yeah, I’m fairly sure there’s a line somewhere, maybe from Prop Joe, explaining how they get raw (heroin) ‘straight off the boat’ and the best cocaine from New York.

By: nm

07.03.2010 @ 2:44 PM

I had forgotten all about Stringer wanting to own some groceries. Just like Randy in Season 4. Just as wasted a dream.

By: Metaphysic

07.06.2010 @ 6:38 PM

“Johnny has been taught (ironically, by Bubbs) to believe in the same stupid, backwards code of the street that the cops, the dealers and the fiends all have come to accept as a way of life, and any suggestion that there’s another way to do things is met with some combination of confusion, fear and outright hostility”

Suggestions don’t matter if the political reality that shaped the “same stupid, backwards code of the street that the cops, the dealers and the fiends all have come to accept as a way of life” is not changed. “Reform” will fail. But dealing specifically with snitching, I have to go with Johnny on this one. First, as always in The Wire there’s the issue of pursuing one’s own self-interest versus the good of others, even if the concept of professional, waged snitching could be said to produce a general good. But that it is extremely doubtful in the world described in The Wire where policing and the legal system have already lost legitimacy. Alexandra Natapoff’s ([www.lls.edu]) book “Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice” published last year though it fails to interrogate the political issues underlying the role of the police in social control shows how problematic the practice of snitching is. Consider The Wire itself, how much horror did we see result from snitching, or the paranoia about it, and the exploitation of the reliance of policing on it without adequate safeguards or protections? How many deaths? Orlando, Wallace, the female security guard, Little Man, the prison hot shot victims, D’Angelo ….

“Two different men, two different approaches, but the same basic philosophy: people are going to sell and buy drugs, so why not try to keep the violence and other collateral damage from that business to a minimum?”

I wouldn’t say that Colvin and Stringer had the same basic philosophy. Colvin’s aim was to reduce the nuisance and threat to public safety on his corners (the neighborhoods within his sector) caused by the sale and abuse of drugs. Stringer’s aim was a drug cartel that would consolidate his (more generally, the Barksdale) position within the drug trade and enable maximum profit with minimum exposure and through the laundering of money eventually, as he will explain to Avon, gaining political power through graft. Colvin’s aim was to make life better for those living in his district. Stringer’s aim was to make life better for himself, as he understood “better,” our man Gatsby. It so happens at this time their aims coincided in keeping “the violence and other collateral damage from that business to a minimum.” But for the businessman Stringer if the costs/benefits analysis called for increasing violence, then so be it. I find it difficult to believe the man who planned to assassinate Clay Davis would have argued against the move on the New York boys “who came too far south” in season 4.

By: Rha

08.09.2010 @ 8:10 AM

If u spring 3 of us we can get it talking u know…find the gun
naw dat dink dead. How many murders we talking…holds up 4 fingers.Do it have to be the cops gun cause if its guns u want I can get u guns.- exchange with Bunk and the prisoners

By: Rha

08.09.2010 @ 8:18 AM

Marlo cares about one thing and one thing only power. More than $ women or anything else. Thats why at the end of the Wire series he couldnt be happy just being legit or being business. He woulda been content going to jail and having the kind of power that Avon has(d). Marlo and Avon are all abou street rep power their names